That’s a very thorough summation. Thank you for taking the time. I was curious if the shop that started the modifications was well known at the time or is still in business, although it seems unlikely. As to the aux lights, do you happen to know the source, manufacturer, etc?
You might have mentioned it. Please excuse me if you had. Is the motor built on the original #’s matching engine case?
I will have to check. It was the previous owner who installed them. By aux lights, you mean the low mounted fog lamps, correct?
The BAT auction is going to be interesting to watch. I may have missed it, but has anyone here (not a direct party to the auction) seen and/or driven this Dino in SLC? The posted videos are pretty cool. And Freeman (4CamGT) - I thought you had a 24 valve Stratos head setup? Or did you have the Stratos carb setup but not the 24 valve system? About 25 years ago or so, Gary Bobileff and I spoke about some 24 valve Stratos heads for a Dino that I believe Dennis McCann had, and I thought I had another source, but that fell through. I wonder if Gary every managed to get the Stratos 24 valve heads.....
I have let Davis Harris (salesman at Ferrari of SLC) and Paul Manukian at The Euro Planet have a go in it. I would invite anyone who is interested to have a go, I taped my phone to the rear window and shot an unedited long(ish) drive to convey just how well behaved this competition bred engine is in the real world. One important thing to keep in mind is the altitude here in SLC is 4,200 ft. in the valley, so if the engine was rated at 300 BHP, only 262 of those horses make roll call up here. The only person I am aware of stateside with another 24 valve 246 engine is on this forum. Freeman (4CamGT) had a "stradale" Stratos (2V) intake and correct 40 IDF carbs installed on his 246. That intake manifold has a slightly lower profile, and he and a local craftsman made a neat factory looking air box that fit under the standard 246 Dino engine lid. Freeman (4CanGT) is a friend of the former owner of Dino 246 GT #05978 that also had 24 valve heads installed on it. John Bagioli of Forza Motors in Monterey evidently had a hand in that conversion while he was working at a shop in Texas back in the 80's. That car was sold to a Stratos enthusiast in France who subsequently converted it back to stock and kept the 24 valve heads for his Stratos collection.
Thanks for the clarification and updates. Good luck with the auction! I was wondering about the altitude, and thought that as good as it drove and sounded in SLC that it would be a hoot anywhere near sea level.
I have seen this car in person, heard it run and “go”. To say that it is merely gorgeous is to commit a grave injustice! If you are not a “Dino fan” this example will quickly change that! And being a life-long Stratos fan, this car “had me” with its coffin wheels! (By the way Mike - I’m J.B., the guy with all the Toyota trucks across the lot from you. GLWS!)
Outstanding car, but the 14:1 static compression might scare people off. Having to run race fuel or additives might be a bummer. Any information on the camshafts in this? I'm wondering what kind of duration and lift they're able to run in that head. I helped work on one of these 10 years ago or so and it indeed made just above 300hp on the flywheel dyno. That was an original Stratos race engine running even bigger 48IDF carbs. Peak power was just over 10k rpm.
I have a complete NOS stock Stratos carb/induction setup. I had fun using it for a bit until it got a clogged idle jet. To get access to the idle jet meant removing the whole assembly. I took the setup off and reinstalled the stock setup (20 minutes bolt off bolt on). Afterwards I was impressed by how well the stock setup compared so I ended up keeping it stock. I still have the Stratos setup in the garage. My friend had an M-Series Dino coupe same Blu Scurro color as mine with the complete 24V setup. He ended up selling his Dino to a Stratos Collector who ended up taking off all the rare parts and returning the Dino to Stock.
I have discussed this with Randle. The 14:1 number was something I read. I now seriously doubt this figure to be accurate. In any event compression numbers are above 200psi up here at 4,200 ft. so the compression ratio is certainly high(ish), as a strong stock Dino 246 engine might do 140psi up here.
Yeah it's really difficult to nail-down unless you have the exact CCs of the combustion chamber and have the same data of the dished pistons etc. With such high cranking compression with such a short stroke motor with longer duration camshafts it sounds really high! My 2.8L twin plug 911 has a similar stroke/bore and a has a really long duration camshaft, it's 10.7:1 compression and cranks 160psi. In any event, above 11:1 static can be a serious challenge on pump premium fuel. That said, it's pretty easy boosting octane rating without having to get straight race fuel now as really good additives one just can add to a tank of premium are available from Summit racing and the like, and they actually work.
Here is a close up of the aux or fog light, the switch that runs them and a photo of them while illuminated. Sorry, I didn’t see a manufacturer mark on them. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Fabulous, TY! Those are some very serious cams for a 4v head that flows a bunch of air. Ferrari couldn't go much hotter than these babies but I'm sure they did haha. What's awesome is this engine idles really well at 1000rpm when, at least on paper, it shouldn't with these cams.
Very much agree, I personally can't stand David Lee's Dino, and that's not an F40 in there as an F40 motor cannot be mounted in that manner to the transverse Dino/308 style gearbox. At least the Dino currently for sale has a proper and incredibly awesome/rare Dino engine. This is the only way, IMO anyway, to restomod a Dino if a person were so inclined. It truly is the ultimate Dino engine- no question
HaHA. I TOTALLY agree. The term "outlaw" has gained momentum in the import tuner world. I think it is more appropriate, as opinion of modified vintage cars will always divide opinions.
When this non running project landed on my doorstep I never expected it to do anything but go like the blazes flat out, and that's about it. It worked slightly better than I expected once I had it up and running set to the factory specs. This really opened a rabbit hole that sucked me into the idea of tuning it so that it would have excellent performance through out the rev range, behave in traffic (no revving at stop lights to keep the plugs clean or any of that nonsense). It took a ludicrous amount of time to get there, but I finally arrived at a "goldilocks" set up that combines superior to stock drivability (easy starting hot or cold, cool running under the most extreme conditions, no fuel starvation issues in cornering etc.)and of course the maximum amount of power that makes sense in this chassis.
I did some aesthetic changes to the car as well. Here is a before and after: Image Unavailable, Please Login
JB, Thanks for the t-shirt. I must say that it funny to my friends as I have a bit of a reputation for being an indoorsman.
That's because of those IDF carbs, huge upgrade. DCNF carbs don't actually starve fuel in turns, the fuel bowl has a breather hole at the top which faces the air corrector jet inlet, as gravity moves the fuel in turning, fuel spills right into the air correct and down to the main jet cause a way rich condition and stumbling. So fun....
